Nothing Ventured

24

‘I’ll be in touch Ross,’ said the commander, when he heard a knock on the door. The three of them walked in and took their seats around the table in Hawksby’s office for the Monday morning meeting. They all knew there was an elephant in the room, but the commander was determined to carry on as if it was business as usual.

‘I’ve just heard that Kevin Carter has been seen back in Barnstaple,’ began Lamont, ‘and according to the local police, his house is up for sale.’

‘So Carter must have finally found out the truth,’ said William, ‘and it looks as if Faulkner has even covered his expenses.’

‘Perhaps it’s time we had another chat with Lieutenant Monti,’ suggested Hawksby. ‘He must have had the professor’s findings so we should start making preparations to arrest Carter.’

‘Nothing would give me greater pleasure,’ said Lamont, ‘than to go down to Barnstaple and arrest the bastard myself.’

‘And possibly also the man behind the whole scam,’ said William.

‘Even better.’

‘Perhaps Monti even knows who that is,’ said Hawksby. ‘I’ll call him now and put him on speaker phone so we can all hear what he has to say. If either of you have a point to make, don’t interrupt me. Write your thoughts down and pass them across.’ He didn’t wait for a response as he looked up the number and began to dial.

An unfamiliar ringing tone followed, and it was some time before the call was answered.

‘Good morning, my name is Commander Hawksby—’

‘Sorry, no speak English.’

A long silence followed, but there was no purring sound to indicate he’d been cut off.

‘Good morning. Captain Loretti speaking. How may I help you?’

‘Good morning, captain, this is Commander Hawksby calling from Scotland Yard. I was hoping to have a word with Lieutenant Monti concerning a case we are both working on.’

‘Lieutenant Monti is no longer with us, sir. But I can tell you the matter you are referring to has been satisfactorily resolved.’

‘Resolved? But we agreed to wait until Monti had received a report from the professor at the Museum of Ancient Artifacts in Florence, when we would announce simultaneously that the Spanish cob coins were fakes, and the whole salvage operation was a scam.’

‘That is not my understanding of the situation,’ said the captain. ‘The professor from Florence verified an example of the coins as genuine, and as a result the Italian Naval Office has officially declared them treasure trove. It was well reported in the Italian press. And the good news, commander, is that Lieutenant Monti pulled off a bit of a coup for this department.’

‘What form did this coup take?’ asked Hawksby, trying to remain calm.

‘Following several days of tough negotiations, the Italian Naval Office agreed on a valuation of the rest of the coins that was well below the amount proposed by Mr. Carter’s representative.’

‘How much?’ spat out Hawksby.

‘Six hundred thousand pounds, of which the Italian government only had to pay out three hundred thousand. So Lieutenant Monti’s skillful negotiations saved the government some fifty thousand pounds.’

‘One coin?’ whispered William, breaking the commander’s orders.

‘Lieutenant Monti sent only one coin to be examined by the professor?’ asked Hawksby.

‘Yes,’ said the captain. ‘The remainder were kept under lock and key in Rome. Monti considered it would be pointless and unnecessarily risky to send the entire casket to Florence.’ Lamont scribbled a few words on a scrap of paper and passed it to Hawksby.

‘You said Lieutenant Monti is no longer with you...’

‘That is correct, commander. He recently took early retirement.’

‘But when I last spoke to him, he mentioned the possibility of promotion.’

‘Yes, it was all very sudden,’ said Captain Loretti. ‘It seems his mother is suffering from cancer, and he felt that as her only child he ought to resign and return home to look after her. Quite a sacrifice, because, you’re correct, he was just about to be promoted to captain and made head of the department.’

Where is he? wrote William.

‘Is there any way I can get in touch with him?’ asked Hawksby.

‘We have a forwarding address in Sicily where I think his family comes from.’

Lamont threw his arms in the air. ‘I should have been born in Italy,’ he muttered as William wrote down another suggestion for the Hawk to consider.

‘One more question, if I may,’ said Hawksby. ‘Can I ask who conducted the negotiations on behalf of Carter?’

‘One moment please, commander, while I check.’

William wrote down a name and waited for the captain to confirm it.

‘Ah yes, here it is,’ said Loretti. ‘A lawyer from Lincoln’s Inn, in London. A Mr. Booth Watson QC.’

‘Thank you, captain,’ said Hawksby, trying not to sound exasperated.

‘My pleasure, commander. It is always a privilege to work alongside our colleagues in the Metropolitan Police.’

Hawksby slammed the phone down as Lamont repeated the same four-letter word again and again.

‘Why don’t we go ahead and arrest Carter anyway?’ said William calmly.

‘And break off any relationship we still have with the Italian police? No, I don’t think that would please the politicians in either country.’

‘So there’s absolutely nothing we can do about it?’ asked William.

‘Except shoot Miles Faulkner, and hope there’s a bullet left over for Booth Watson,’ said Lamont.

‘Calm down, Bruce, we have no proof that Faulkner is involved. Let’s take a deep breath and move on.’

‘Whatever you say, boss,’ said Lamont, ‘but there was one more question I would have liked you to ask.’ Hawksby indulged him with a nod. ‘How many people who work in the Italian Naval Office also took early retirement?’ he said before storming out of the room.

William was about to follow when Hawksby said, ‘Don’t forget your files, DC Warwick.’

‘But I didn’t—’ began William, as he turned around and saw two thick files lying on the table. He picked them up and left the room without another word. When he arrived back in his office he found Lamont punching a telephone directory.

‘Faulkner or Carter?’ asked William innocently.

‘The system,’ barked Lamont. ‘That always gives the crooks an advantage.’

William sat down at his desk and opened the first of the two files Hawksby had left on the table. He only had to turn a few pages to realize what a risk the commander was taking.

‘Where did you get these?’ asked Grace after a cursory glance at the contents.

‘I can’t tell you,’ said William.

She continued turning the pages. ‘They look promising, but I’ll have to read them more thoroughly when I get home this evening, and then brief my leader first thing in the morning.’

‘Does that mean Dad has agreed to visit Mr. Rainsford in Pentonville?’

‘Yes. He spent the rest of the weekend reading the transcripts from the original trial, accompanied by ums, ahs, and even the occasional “disgraceful.”’

‘So does he think there might be a chance...’

‘No, he does not,’ said Grace firmly. ‘However, he does think that he owes it to you to visit Mr. Rainsford before he offers his considered opinion.’

‘Can I come along?’

‘Yes, but on one condition.’

‘And what might that be?’

‘When Father begins to cross-examine Mr. Rainsford, you will not, under any circumstances, interrupt him. If you do, he will leave the meeting and withdraw from the case altogether.’

‘I still want to come.’

‘Then don’t take his threat lightly.’

‘Will you be there too?’

‘Yes, he’s appointed me as his junior for the case, and given me the unenviable task of coming up with some fresh evidence that would make it possible for him to apply for a retrial.’

‘Anything so far?’

‘Nothing, but it’s early days. And if I’m going to read these files on DI Stern and DC Clarkson before midnight, I’d better get started.’

‘Will you let your friend Clare read them?’

‘She’s agreed to be the instructing solicitor on the case.’

‘That’s good of her,’ said William. ‘Now we’ll just have to wait to hear Dad’s verdict.’

‘Just be thankful he’s in your corner. Because if he thinks there’s been a miscarriage of justice, he’ll not only come out fighting like the heavyweight he is, but he’ll go the whole fifteen rounds.’